The present invention relates to a stair-climbing wheelchair carrier on which a wheelchair with a disabled passenger seated therein is mounted, and particularly to a stair-climbing wheelchair carrier which moves smoothly on stairways as well as on flat floors.
There is provided a stair-climbing carrier on which a wheelchair is mounted for travelling on the stairway. For example, Japanese Patent Laid Open Publication No. 57-95267 discloses such a stair-climbing wheelchair carrier, in which a wheelchair is easily mounted on the carrier which is smoothly travels on the floor.
The stair-climbing wheelchair carrier has a pair of belt crawlers for easily descending or ascending stairs. However, the belt crawlers increases friction between the crawlers and the floor, which harms the operability of the carrier on the floor. In order to solve this problem, the crawler mechanism is provided with detachable wheels so that the carrier moves on the floor by the wheels. However, it is quite troublesome to attach and detach the wheels according to the travelling conditions.